Apr 12, 2019

This Week at the Statehouse – Week 13

Budget bills and their status:

HF 759 - ADMINISTRATION & REGULATION (Passed House 54-46; in Senate budget subcommittee)

SF 609 - AGRICULTURE & NATURAL RESOURCES (Passed Senate 32-18; on House floor)

SF 608 - ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (Senate floor)

HF 758 - EDUCATION (Passed House 54-46; in Senate budget subcommittee)

HF 766 - HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (Passed House 54-44; in Senate budget subcommittee)

SF 616 - JUDICIAL BRANCH (Senate floor)

SF 615 - JUSTICE SYSTEMS (Senate floor)

HF 765- INFRASTRUCTURE (Passed House 100-0; in Senate budget subcommittee)

SF 600 - TRANSPORTATION (Passed Senate 46-0; Passed House 100-0; to Governor)

?? STANDINGS AND MISCELLANEOUS (starting in Senate)

The infrastructure budget bill unanimously passed the House on April 9. The bill now goes the Senate for their consideration.

  • UNI’s $38 million request to modernize the Industrial Technology Center (ITC) is not contained in the House bill. During floor debate discussion, the chair of the budget subcommittee, Rep. Gary Mohr, did say UNI’s building project is at the top of his list for next session for the three-year funding request. 
  • The bill does appropriate tuition replacement dollars to the Board of Regents and $4.3 million to the Iowa School for the Deaf to remodel their high school building Long Hall. Previously enacted funding to ISU for the student innovation center and vet diagnostic laboratory did not change and the projects will receive their appropriations.

SF 507 now goes to the governor for her signature. The bill relates to workers compensation from injuries from falls. It specifically says personal injuries due to idiopathic or unexplained falls from a level surface on to the same level surface do not arise out of and in the course of employment and are not compensable under their chapter.

HF 392 is also on its way to the governor for her signature. The Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board brought the bill forward. Iowa Code section 68B.3 currently prohibits government officials and employees from selling goods or services in excess of $2,000 to ANY state agency absent public notice and competitive bidding. The conundrum with 68B.3 is that state law currently exempts certain types of services from competitive bidding, regardless of the amount of the contract (e.g. expert witnesses, doctors, lawyers, architects, engineers) but 68B.3 does not exclude those types of contracts. The bill amends 68B.3 to state the statute does not apply to a contract for professional services that is exempt from competitive bidding. The Ethics Board does not see the harm in excluding from 68B.3 professional services that are already exempt from competitive bidding requirements. The conflicts-of-interests statutes in chapter 68B would still apply.

The House and Senate are still working on the sports wagering/fantasy sports betting legislation. Agreements have not yet been made. The bills are SF 617 and HF 748.HF